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Chinese student murdered in Utah

By Linda Deng in Seattle | China Daily USA | Updated: 2017-11-01 11:14

Chinese student murdered in Utah

A Chinese student at the University of Utah who was shot and killed in an attempted carjacking near campus on Monday has been identified as Guo Chenwei.

Classes were canceled on Tuesday, but the campus in Salt Lake City remained open, and a secure-in-place order has been lifted.

After hours of searching by the police and FBI, the suspected gunman, Austin Jeffrey Boutain, 24, was taken into custody at the Salt Lake City main library on Tuesday afternoon.

The Twitter account of the University of Utah posted a recent picture of Guo, 23, from Beijing, with the following message: "We're absolutely heart-stricken by the loss of student Chenwei Guo. He was extraordinarily outgoing, creative, smart & extremely engaged."

University of Utah President David Pershing said in a statement sent to students: "We have canceled classes today in respect for Chenwei and the impact this violent event has had on our campus community. Chenwei was a pre-computer science major with a promising future and worked as a peer adviser in our International Student and Scholar Services Office."

Pershing said the university has been in contact with Guo's family.

lindadeng@chinadailyusa.com